Gaddafi dead after Sirte battle

Libya's National Transitional Council has confirmed that fighters have shot Colonel Gaddafi dead in Sirte, finally ending the tyrant's 42 year reign over Libya.

The country's former leader died as a result of wounds suffered during his capture. Several images have surfaced online of his dead body.

[Warning: Some people may find the images at the bottom of this page distressing]

The news agency Reuters originally reported that Gaddafi was captured but was still breathing.

"He's captured. He's wounded in both legs ... He's been taken away by ambulance," the senior NTC military official Abdel Majid told Reuters by telephone. However this was later updated, saying that he had died of his wounds.

It is thought Gaddafi was trying to flee in a convoy that was attacked by NATO when he was captured by the NTC.

Majid told Reuters that the head of Gaddafi's armed forces Abu Bakr Younus Jabr was also killed during the capture of the Libyan ex-leader who was apparantly wearing a khaki uniform and wearing a turban.